CNN’s John Avlon Says Youngkin Victory Shows Trump Is ‘A Drag’ On Republicans

CNN commentator John Avlon delivered what he called a “reality check” about the Virginia gubernatorial race that included the claim that former President Donald Trump is “a drag” on Republican tickets.

On Thursday morning’s edition of New Day, Avlon gave viewers his “Reality Check” on the lessons that should be gleaned from Governor-elect Youngkin’s victory over former Governor Terry McAuliffe, which included extolling the role of swing voters, trashing Trump’s influence, and deriding “wokeness” as a reason for the defeat.

Avlon began by saying that “There’s been a lot of Beltway talk about how swing voters are extinct and independent voters don’t really exist,” but added, “That’s partisan wishful thinking, and the 2021 elections brought the receipts.”

He cited the huge swing in Virginia from President Joe Biden’s huge victory in the state in 2020 to Youngkin’s defeat of McAuliffe.

Avlon noted Virginia’s history of electing governors from the president’s opposition party, and called it “a sign of the desire for some kind of balance in our politics, even if there’s less and less evidence that divided government results in constructive compromise and common ground.”

Avlon then addressed Trump, saying that “after refusing to campaign with Trump, Glenn Youngkin outperformed the president in every county in the state, every single one.”

“In fact, Youngkin won the votes of 17 percent of people who had an unfavorable view of Trump,” he said, and claimed that “the lesson should be that Trump was and is a drag on the Republican ticket in swing states.”

Avlon is correct that Youngkin did avoid campaigning with Trump, but the former president endorsed Youngkin half a dozen times and made a last-minute appearance at a “tele-rally” for the candidate.

Avlon went on to apportion blame to congressional Democrats for failing to pass Biden’s agenda in time to help McAuliffe and called out the false critical race issue that roiled the election, but then proceeded to deride excessive “wokeness” as the reason for the defeat,” saying that “the term has become a catchall for parental concerns about anti-racism lesson plans and gender identity politics and grade schools.”

Watch above via CNN.